DEFIANT DRIVER BUSTED AFTER MIDNIGHT HIT-AND-RUN AND POLICE CHASE ON ST. THOMAS

A St. Thomas motorist was arrested early Saturday after hitting a parked vehicle twice in a downtown parking lot, refusing to stop for police, and taunting officers during a standoff on Hodges Street, according to court records.

Melvin Gomez De Los Santos, driving a 2010 Acura MDX, struck a silver Ford Escape twice on the rear passenger side at the Government Employees' Retirement System (GERS) complex near Emile Griffith Ball Park shortly after midnight on October 17, police said. An off-duty officer stationed in the lot witnessed the collisions and activated his emergency lights.

When the officer approached and asked if Gomez De Los Santos knew he had hit the parked vehicle, the driver replied "Yes" but refused to provide his license, registration, or insurance documents. Told he would be arrested if he drove away, Gomez De Los Santos responded: "Do what you have to do," then accelerated out of the lot.

The officer pursued the Acura through Charlotte Amalie, with the driver running past emergency signals as he turned onto Gasvaerks Gade, Harwood Highway, Thomas Street, and finally Hodges Street, where the pursuit ended.

At the scene, Gomez De Los Santos initially refused to believe the off-duty officer was legitimate despite repeated badge displays. When two on-duty officers arrived, he continued to resist, eventually handing over his license and registration but deliberately throwing his insurance card onto the pavement. When ordered to pick it up, he refused.

During the standoff, Gomez De Los Santos told officers he "knew our bosses," according to the probable cause affidavit filed by Officer Nekhori Sprauve. He was placed under arrest and read his Miranda rights in Spanish after declining to acknowledge understanding English.

Gomez De Los Santos was charged with five misdemeanors: interfering with an officer discharging his duty, leaving the scene of an accident without reporting, littering, failing to yield to an emergency vehicle, and failing to stop when ordered by police. Magistrate bail was set at $2,000. Unable to post bond, he was remanded to the Virgin Islands Bureau of Corrections pending arraignment on November 6, 2026.